Experimental and computational design tools for industrial drying processes: Challenges in process‐limit prediction

Journal Article · 06 August 2023 · AIChE Journal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.18147 · OSTI ID:1993996

Parrish, Chance  ^[1]; Bell, Nelson ^[1]; Larsen, Marvin E. ^[2]; Tjiptowidjojo, Kristianto ^[2]; Schunk, P. Randall ^[1]

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1. Advanced Materials Laboratory Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque New Mexico USA
2. Center for MicroEngineered Materials University of New Mexico Albuquerque New Mexico USA

Abstract The coating and drying of inks and slurries are important steps to manufacture a plethora of products. Drying processes, particularly, comprise energy‐intensive steps that affect product cost and quality. Prior work has highlighted failures of various multicomponent diffusivity models to conserve mass in dryer modeling and challenges in predicting process limits given variability in published values of key thermodynamic parameters. Herein, we develop a computational model and benchtop drying experiments to investigate these concerns for drying polymer‐laden coatings. Model predictions of process limits in a single‐zone drying oven demonstrate that published variability in Flory–Huggins parameter yields large variations in predicted operating temperatures above which blistering occurs. This indicates that caution should be exercised when choosing approaches to obtain or predict the Flory–Huggins parameter, and that both benchtop drying experiments and a set of additional experiments, such as sorption experiments, are needed to fully characterize and optimize a given drying process.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 1993996
• Journal Information: AIChE Journal, Journal Name: AIChE Journal; ISSN 0001-1541
• Publisher: Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English